New York, US (PANA) - Zimbabwean authorities should immediately drop all charges against News Day editor Wisdom Mdzungairi and reporter Richard Chidza, and should cease threatening journalists, Media watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday.
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Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The maiden budget of Ghana’s new government that seeks to remove taxes to give relief to the population, stimulate growth and create jobs was the main story in the Ghanaian media this week.
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Accra, Ghana (PANA) – Last Tuesday’s maiden State of the Nation address by President Nana Akufo-Addo to parliament dominated the Ghanaian media this week with officials of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) respectively hailing and criticising it.
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Banjul, Gambia(PANA) - For nations to ensure lasting peace and sustainable development, human rights must be respected and people must be free to seek, receive and impart knowledge and information on all media, according to the director of UNESCO regional office for West Africa, Gwang-Chol Chang.Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – A huge disagreement between the current and former governments over the whereabouts of state vehicles and the poor performance of the senior national football team, Black Stars, at the just ended 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Gabon were some of the stories highlighted by the media in Ghana this week.
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Tripoli, Libya (PANA) – The European Union (EU) has reaffirmed its willingness to mediate between the chairman of the Libyan presidential council of the coalition government of national accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, and the commander of the Libyan national army, Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who controls portions of Libya.
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Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The Dakar-based rights body, ARTICLE 19, has said that after 22 years of repression under the leadership of former President Yahya Jammeh, President Adama Barrow must seek to address the structures and culture that have produced human rights violations in the past.
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Accra, Ghana (PANA) – An alleged bribery by a ministerial nominee of Parliament’s Appointments Committee and the elimination of the senior national football team, the Black Stars, at the semi-final stage of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations by Cameroon were some of the stories reported in Ghana this week.
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Accra, Ghana (PANA) – Against the background of fears that a planned shutdown by the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) for maintenance and other works in February would lead to a generation shortfall of electricity, players in the power sector have been assuring consumers that adequate measures have been put in place to forestall load shedding.
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) has vowed to protect democracy and keep the social media open for use during elections while expressing serious concern over the regular social media shutdown during elections as happened in The Gambia and Uganda recently.
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Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – The Nigerian Federal Government said Tuesday said it would not do anything to stifle press freedom, because it is keenly aware that a free press is vital to the success of any democracy.
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Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Guinean and Mauritanian presidents have arrived in the Gambian capital, Banjul, in a last-minute effort to persuade former president Yahya Jammeh to leave the presidency peacefully.
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Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – The Nigeria Police on Thursday afternoon raided the head office of Nigeria’s top online newspaper, the Premium Times, in Abuja, arresting the newspaper’s publisher.
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Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - The media in Rwanda on Wednesday gave wide coverage to preparations by West African states to possibly invade Gambia to force out president Yahya Jammeh who is refusing to quit despite losing the 1 December election to opposition leader Adama Barrow.
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Banjul,Gambia (PANA) - Seven journalists, who are in The Gambia to cover the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Adama Barrow, were on January 16, 2017 prevented from entering the country, according media body Media Foundation for West AfricaFull text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The Ghanaian media this week had a huge feast of stories with the inauguration of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, his plagiarised speech, hullabaloo over former President John Dramani Mahama’s official retirement accommodation and nominees for cabinet positions being some of the stories that filled the media.
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Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Talks to resolve the political impasse in the Gambia have failed for the second time with the chief mediator, Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari, leaving the country immediately after the West African mediation team met outgoing President Yahya Jammeh.
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Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa has thrown its weight behind mediation efforts by the West African regional bloc ECOWAS aimed at persuading President Yahya Jammeh to step down after he lost the 1 December elections.
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Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, under pressure from within and outside the country to step down following his defeat in last month's presidential election, on Wednesday appointed a mediator to help resolve the country's political impasse.Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has condemned Gambian authorities for closing down four private radio stations whose operating licences were revoked by the country's Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure.Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – President John Dramani Mahama’s final State of the Nation address to Parliament and preparations for the inauguration of president-elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo were the major stories highlighted by the media this week.
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Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Promoting a free, responsible and accountable media is a precondition for the Rwandan media self-regulatory body in defending its journalist members, the head of European Union Delegation to Rwanda Michael Ryan said Friday in Kigali.Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Two leading rights groups, Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch have decried the closure of three private radio stations and arbitrary arrests of opposition supporters in Gambia.
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Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Ranked among worst jailers of journalists worldwide, Ethiopia has sent two more scribes from the faith-based broadcasting station, Radio Bilal, to prison over terrorism charges.Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The Gambian government has launched a massive crackdown on opposition voices, arresting opposition members and closing down an independent radio station, Tanraga FM radio, PANA reported here Monday. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – A tweet by the United Kingdom High Commissioner in Ghana Jon Benjamin and appeals by outgoing president John Dramami Mahama to Ghanaians to support the incoming administration were some of the stories highlighted by the media in Ghana this week.
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Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged Angolan authorities to immediately drop charges against two journalists charged with "crimen injuria", a crime defined to be the act of "unlawfully, intentionally and seriously impairing the dignity of another."
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Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The media in Ghana this week again highlighted disagreements between the outgoing and incoming administrations following the main opposition party’s victory in the 7 December elections.
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Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The number of journalists killed in the line of duty is declined in 2016 from recent record levels as fewer journalists were targeted for murder and war became the deadliest beat, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Monday.
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Khartoum, Sudan (PANA ) – The United States has called on Sudanese authorities to refrain from confiscating newspapers, to allow freedom of expression and release politicians and activists opposing government stands in politics.Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The media in Ghana this week featured president-elect Nana Akufo-Addo's meetings with various groups and organisations, and transition challenges, with attacks on government facilities by jubilant supporters of the incoming administration and anger of loyalists of the outgoing ruling party for their loss.
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Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) - Human rights watchdog Amnesty International on Thursday condemned the order to internet firms by the DR Congo authorities to block social media sites on 18 December.
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Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Turkey's unprecedented crackdown on the media brought the total number of jailed journalists worldwide to the highest number since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began taking an annual census in 1990, the press freedom watchdog said on Tuesday.
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Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Ghana's outgoing president John Dramani Mahama has arrived in the Gambian capital, Banjul, where he will join leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to mediate in the looming political crisis in Gambia.
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Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are due in Banjul, Gambia, on Tuesday for talks to persuade incumbent president Yahya Jammeh to agree to leave office after his defeat in the country's 1 December presidential election.
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Accra, Ghana (PANA) - The media in Ghana this week gave wide coverage to Wednesday's general election that culminated in the declaration of Nana Akufo-Addo of the centre-right New Patriotic Party (NPP) as the fifth president of the Fourth Republic that started in 1992.
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